Of oilcloth, familiars, spies, and creative ADD

I just started writing a YA/young adult fantasy novel. I am twelve pages along. I plan on using this blog to keep myself accountable. If I make myself meta-blog each day, it should keep me honest and plug on a bit.

Do those of you who write have the following problem: when you get started or are involved writing one story, does another one creep in and demand your attention? My problem for years has always been that I have too many stories roiling about in my mind; how do I decide which one to focus on? And if I focus on that one, is it to the detriment of the others?

I’m surprised I finished my last novel – I have creative ADD.

Anyhoo, about this one . . . and maybe I’ll mention what I’m considering for the next one . . . and the one after that . . .

This one is a fantasy, as I said. It’s set in a fictional realm in a medievalesque past. Its main character is a seventeen year old witch. I was writing a scene that I saw clearly in my head, a scene to set the story going, and all of a sudden three images came to me that hadn’t been in my head before. I made haste to write them down. This young witch, who is traveling at the onset of the story, needs a warm blanket for when she makes camp. But in my image it is not a blanket, but an oilcloth . . . which prompted me to do research on oilcloth and what kind of oil they are/were made of. The answer: flaxseed oil, which, incidentally, is also used by painters. Hence, the young witch’s dead father was an artist . . . of course.

It’s a dry road that the witch is traveling. She grows thirsty. What does she hold her water in? A water skin. It grows empty and there is no water in sight. The answer: use elemental magic to bring water up from a high water table beneath a dried up watercourse . . . of course.

And the familiar . . . well, every good witch needs one . . . whether she wants one or not. Let’s just say I’ve been inspired by my dogs of late.

Now, about those other stories. My good friend, G, will know that I’ve put two very special characters on the back-burner for decades, literally. They very much need resurrection. It must be soon. It surely must be, because I just had a vivid dream about them last night. They will find a home in my next book, I think, which will be one of a YA spy series.

And the last book I wrote? It’s the first of a series too, not YA. I am still hoping to find an agent for it. I will eventually. In the mean time, I’ve written an outline for the next book in that series, but its characters are in a coma right now – waiting for me to wake them up.

I’ll keep you informed. And if anyone of you knows of any good treatment for this vicious case of creative ADD, please let me know. (I know, those writers suffering from writer’s block should be so lucky . . .)

Thanks
RebeccaOfTomorrow